Robert Borsak | |
|---|---|
| Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council | |
| Assumed office 7 September 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Roy Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 April 1953 Sydney,New South Wales,Australia |
| Political party | Shooters,Fishers and Farmers Party |
| Children | Annie Borsak (née Saab) |
| Alma mater | University of Technology Sydney |
| Occupation | Accountant |
Robert Borsak (born 14 August 1953) [1] is an Australian politician who serves as the chairman of the Shooters,Fishers and Farmers Party. He represents the party in the New South Wales Legislative Council. [2] He was chosen by the Shooters and Fishers Party to fill the New South Wales Legislative Council vacancy caused by the death of Roy Smith on 30 July 2010. [3]
During his time in NSW Parliament,Borsak has advocated for more funding and services for rural and regional NSW, [4] defended the rights of law-abiding firearm users, [5] introduced a bill to criminalise attacks on farms by animal rights activists, [6] lobbied for further support of the greyhound racing industry [7] and railed against attempts to restrict recreational fishing. [8] Borsak has also called on the NSW Government to re-negotiate the Murray Darling Basin Plan,to secure a better deal for NSW farmers and regional communities. [9] Borsak also has denied human involvement in climate change,claiming that "scientific research,reports and arguments supporting human blame for climate change,were wrong". [10]
Prior to be being elected to parliament,Borsak acted as Chairman of the Game Council NSW,which sets standards for conservation hunting in Australia.
He is an active hunter [11] and fisher.
He was a guest on the 2014 show Living with the Enemy (Australian TV series) [12]
Borsak is a member of a number of Legislative Council committees, [1] which scrutinise government activity. He chaired an inquiry into the NSW Government decision to re-locate Sydney's Powerhouse Museum. He has been publicly critical of both the cost of the museum move and the NSW Government's failure to release a business case. [13]
Under Borsak,SFF campaigned on a "biased for the bush" agenda during the 2019 state election campaign,pledging to divert funds and services away from Sydney and towards regional NSW. [14] The party achieved its best ever result at the election,winning three lower house seats. [15] Controversially,despite routine denial of preference deals between SFFP and the Labor Party, [16] Borsak was captured on film encouraging the taxi council to start a grassroots campaign to direct voters to Labor in the run-up to the February 2023 by-election [17]
In 2022,Borsak was criticised for comments that he made suggesting that independent MP Helen Dalton,who had recently left the SFF,"should be clocked." [18] Following Borsak's refusal to apologise for these comments,MPs Roy Butler and Philip Donato later resigned from the party,after failing to remove Borsak as leader. [19]
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